China hopes to enhance industrial co-operation with Mozambique; and has companies, both state-run and private, that are already interested in doing so. Li Chunhua, the Chinese Ambassador to the country, mentioned the idea on Friday in Maputo.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in China surged 10.5 percent year-on-year to US$53.83 billion in the first five months of this year, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on Thursday.

China has surpassed the United States to become the biggest consumer of Brazilian oil, after a threefold increase in Brazilian oil exports to China so far this year, Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua reported.

Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos has asked Beijing for a two-year freeze on the country’s debt payments to China according to Angolan news agency Angop. The Head of State is on an official visit to China until Saturday. Mr dos Santos also asked China for new credit lines, or for the expansion of the ones already in place, added Angop.

Economists at China’s central bank predict that the Chinese economy will grow more quickly in the second half of this year thanks to more stable house prices in the domestic market and growing overseas demand for Chinese goods, news agency Reuters reported.

China’s state-owned Industrial and Commercial Bank (ICBC) signed a deal with Angola’s Ministry of Finance to provide a US$840-million loan for a power plant in that country, state-run news agency China News Service reported.

The relationship between China and Brazil is one of China’s top priorities in foreign policy, said Zhang Dejiang, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress.

The consumer price index (CPI) in China went up by 1.2 percent year-on-year in May, while the Producer Price Index (PPI) fell 4.6 percent year-on-year, the National Bureau of Statistics of China revealed on Tuesday.

Macao Polytechnic Institute (MPI) is to launch two new academic programmes that should help to build relations between China and the Portuguese Speaking Countries, Macau’s Portuguese language newspaper Jornal Tribuna de Macau reported on Wednesday.

China will encourage its companies to invest in Angola, and to take part in the construction of industrial parks and infrastructure there, China’s President, Xi Jinping, pledged.

China narrowed its export decline in May but its imports fell more than expected, data from the Chinese Customs showed.

The Chinese Government will invest nearly 5 billion yuan (US$806 million) in agricultural projects this year to support the country’s economy, Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua reported.